By Ben Levisohn

Brazil’sretail sales rose 1.6% in April from a year ago, well below forecasts for a 3.4% increase. Investors didn’t care–the Bovespa stock index gained 2.3% today.

Bloomberg News

Mexico plans to change area codes to reduce the number of long distance calls consumers are forced to make. Mexico’s IPC stock index was little changed, while America Movil (AMX) gained 0.6% to $19.97.

Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan will meet with some members of a group trying to save an Istanbul park, but gave protestors his “final” warning to clear out. The Istanbul Stock Exchange National 100 Index dropped 0.5%.

Some of the most beaten down emerging-market ADRs got in on the rally in the U.S. today: Mexican homebuilder Homex (HXM), which has fallen 66% this year, gained 2.9% to $4.30, while Russian steel company Mechel (MTL), which has dropped 57% in 2013, rose 1.4% to $2.98.

About Emerging Markets Daily

Emerging markets have been synonymous with growth, but the outlook for individual nations is constantly changing. Countries from Brazil and Russia to Turkey face challenges including infrastructure bottlenecks, credit issues and political shifts. Barrons.com’s Emerging Markets Daily blog analyzes news, data and research out of emerging markets beyond Asia to help readers navigate the investment landscape.

Barron’s veteran Dimitra DeFotis has been blogging about emerging market investing since traveling to India and Turkey. Based in New York, she previously wrote for Barron’s about U.S. equity investing, including cover stories and roundtables on energy themes. Dimitra was among the first digital journalists at the Chicago Tribune and started her career as a police reporter at the Daily Herald in the Chicago suburbs. Dimitra holds degrees from the University of Illinois and Columbia University, where she was a Knight-Bagehot Fellow in the business and journalism schools. She studies multiple languages and photography.